Food item fabricating method

ABSTRACT

Apparatus ( 10 ) is disclosed including first and second forming rollers ( 18, 21 ) which rotatably abut with an anvil roller ( 20 ). The forming rollers ( 18, 21 ) each include a periphery forming a continuous forming surface including a plurality of axially and circumferentially spaced grooves ( 24 ) each formed as a continuous depression arranged in a serpentine and non-intersecting manner. Food ( 14 ) is simultaneously fed between a continuous strip of support material ( 16 ) and a continuous ribbon of film material ( 66 ) as they pass between a first abutment nip of the first forming roller ( 18 ) and the anvil roller ( 20 ). After extending partially around the periphery of the first forming roller ( 18 ), the materials ( 16, 66 ) and the food therebetween pass around an adjustable idler roller ( 70 ) to between a second abutment nip of the second forming roller ( 21 ) and the anvil roller ( 20 ). The food ( 14 ) compressed upon the support material ( 16 ) by the first abutment nip is in phase with the grooves ( 24 ) of the second abutment nip. The film material ( 66 ) removes the food ( 14 ) from the grooves ( 24 ) and can be discarded after passing through the second abutment nip and prior to the support material ( 16 ) being cut to longitudinal lengths and widths between the embossed shapes of food ( 14 ).

CROSS REFERENCE

The present application is a division of U.S. appln. Ser. No. 09/082,781filed May 21, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,613, which is a division ofU.S. appln. Ser. No. 08/809,537 filed Mar. 14, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No.5,755,077, which is the national phase of Appln. No. PCT/US94/10476filed on Sep. 19, 1994 now U.S. application Ser. No. 5,755,077.

BACKGROUND

The present invention generally relates to apparatus and methods forfabricating food items, and particularly to apparatus and methods forfabricating food items including food of a desired embossed shapesupported on support material.

The sale of snack-type food products is a highly competitive business.In addition to the particular food components, increasingly the noveltyand play value of the product are important in the marketability of anyparticular food item. For example, fruit-based snack products such asFRUIT ROLL-UPS™ and FRUIT-BY-THE-FOOT™ fruit products have found widemarket acceptance.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide novelapparatus and methods for the fabrication of food items, which in thepreferred form are in the form of a continuous string of food supportedupon a relatively rigid strip of support material in a non-intersectingarrangement.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus and methodswhere the food is compressed as strings on the support material withouta thin layer of food being present on the support material, and betweenthe desired shape of food.

SUMMARY

Surprisingly, the above objectives can be satisfied in the field of foodfabrication by providing, in the preferred form, apparatus and methodsof food fabrication where a strip of support material and food aresimultaneously fed between an anvil surface and a continuous formingsurface of a first abutment nip to compress the food into a groove inthe desired food shape and onto the support material and then passingthe support material between a second abutment nip having acorresponding groove in its continuous forming surface and in phase withthe food compressed on the continuous strip of support material.

In preferred aspects of the present invention, the first and secondabutment nips are formed by first and second forming rollers rotatablyabutting different portions of the periphery of an anvil roller.

In other aspects of the present invention, the phase of the continuousstrip of support material and the food compressed thereon can beadjusted by changing the spacing of an idler roller which strips thecontinuous strip of support material and the food compressed thereonfrom the first forming roller.

In still other aspects of the present invention, a ribbon of filmmaterial is utilized to remove the compressed food from the grooves ofthe forming roller, with the ribbon of film material locatedintermediate the food and the forming rollers.

The present invention will become clearer in light of the followingdetailed description of an illustrative embodiment of this inventiondescribed in connection with the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The illustrative embodiment may best be described by reference to theaccompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic, side elevational view of an apparatus forfabricating a food item according to the preferred teachings of thepresent invention, with a food item being exploded and turned therefrom.

FIG. 2 shows a partial, cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1according to section line 2—2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a partial, cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1according to section line 3—3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows a diagrammatic, partial, end elevational view of thestrings of food compressed on a sheet of support material by theapparatus of FIG. 1, with the ribbon of film material and a formingroller shown in phantom being exploded therefrom.

FIG. 5 shows a diagrammatic, cross-sectional view of the food itemformed by the apparatus of FIG. 1.

All figures are drawn for ease of explanation of the basic teachings ofthe present invention only; the extensions of the Figures with respectto number, position, relationship, and dimensions of the parts to formthe preferred embodiment will be explained or will be within the skillof the art after the following teachings of the present invention havebeen read and understood. Further, the exact dimensions and dimensionalproportions to conform to specific force, weight, strength, and similarrequirements will likewise be within the skill of the art after thefollowing teachings of the present invention have been read andunderstood.

Where used in the various figures of the drawings, the same numeralsdesignate the same or similar parts. Furthermore, when the terms“first”, “second”, “lower”, “upper”, “end”, “axial”, “longitudinal”,“width”, “height”, and similar terms are used herein, it should beunderstood that these terms have reference only to the structure shownin the drawings as it would appear to a person viewing the drawings andare utilized only to facilitate describing the invention.

DESCRIPTION

An apparatus utilizing methods for fabricating a food item on acontinuous strip of support material according to the preferredteachings of the present invention is shown in the drawings andgenerally designated 10. The food item generally includes a food 14 ofany desired embossed shape supported on support material 16. In thepreferred form, food 14 is in the form of a continuous string or rope ofmaterial in a nonintersecting arrangement such as an outwardly expandingspiral race track design as shown. In the preferred form, food 14 is afruit-based material and in the most preferred form is in the form of acomposition including a fruit base such as grape juice or pearconcentrate and a gum system. In the most preferred form, fruit puree isabsent from the composition. Support material 16 may be formed of anysuitable material such as cardboard which has the necessary strength tosupport food 14 without tearing and without bulkiness to allowcompression of food 14 onto support material 16 and which allows food 14to be easily separated therefrom for consumption.

Apparatus 10 generally includes three rollers 18, 20 and 21. In thepreferred form, rollers 18, 20 and 21 will have a tendency to be heatedby food 14 and are cooled by any suitable means, not shown, such as bycirculating water in the most preferred form and less preferably bypulsating cool water. In the preferred form, roller 18 is cooled to atemperature greater than 90° F. (32° C.) and preferably in the order of120° F. (49° C.) by circulating warm water having a temperature in theorder of 110° F. (43° C.). In the preferred form, rollers 20 and 21 arecooled to a temperature in the order of 40° F. (4° C.) by circulatingcold water having a temperature in the order of 36° F. (2° C.).

The periphery defining a continuous forming surface of each formingroller 18 and 21 is grooved and specifically includes a plurality ofcircumferentially and axially spaced patterns. Each pattern includes oneor more depressions or grooves 24, with lands 22 located between grooves24 in each pattern and also separating the patterns from each other. Thewidth of depressions or grooves 24 is generally equal to the desiredwidth of the strings of food 14 and the height of lands 22 or in otherwords the depth of depressions or grooves 24 is generally equal to thedesired thickness of the strings of food 14. The width of grooves 24decreases from the peripheries of rollers 18 and 21 towards the centerof rollers 18 and 21, with the side walls forming grooves 24 beingnon-parallel and having an angle greater than 15° relative to each otherand in the most preferred form in the order of 20° to 30°. In the mostpreferred form, the depth of grooves 24 in roller 21 is slightly greaterand in the most preferred form is 40% greater than the depth of grooves24 in roller 18. The axial width of lands 22 between the patterns isgenerally equal to the desired lateral spacing between the strings offood 14 and the circumferential width of lands 22 between the patternsis generally equal to the desired longitudinal spacing between thestrings of food 14. In the most preferred form, grooves 24 of roller 18have a width in the order of 0.178 inch (0.452 cm) and a depth in theorder of 0.125 inch (0.318 cm), with the width of lands 22 betweengrooves 24 in each pattern being in the order of 0.058 inch (0.147 cm).Grooves 24 of roller 21 have a width in the order of 0.196 inch (0.498cm) and a depth in the order of 0.176 inch (0.447 cm), with the width oflands 22 between grooves 24 in each pattern being in the order of 0.040inch (0.102 cm). The patterns can be of the same or differentconfigurations, but each pattern on roll 18 has a corresponding patternat complementary axial and cirumferential positions on roller 21.

Anvil roller 20 includes a cylindrical periphery 28 defining acontinuous anvil surface which is relatively smooth in the mostpreferred form. Rollers 18 and 20 are rotatably mounted about parallelaxes in an abutting relation, with periphery 28 of roller 20 engaging,rolling upon and movable relative to lands 22 of roller 18 along anabutment nip. Likewise, rollers 20 and 21 are rotatably mounted aboutparallel axes in an abutting relation, with periphery 28 of roller 20engaging, rolling upon and movable relative to lands 22 of roller 21along an abutment nip. The nip pressure between rollers 18 and 20 androllers 20 and 21 is 1,000-2,000 psi (70-140 kg/cm²) in the mostpreferred form and is obtained utilizing hydraulic pressure to biasrollers 18 and 21 against roller 20. In the most preferred form, rollers18, 20 and 21 are generally cylindrical and of equal diameters. The axesof rollers 18 and 20 are horizontally offset from each other, with theaxis of roller 21 being vertically offset below the axis of roller 20and horizontally offset from the axis of roller 20 on the side oppositeroller 18. The anvil surfaces of the first and second abutment nipsbetween rollers 18, 20 and 21 are located at different portions ofperiphery 28 of roller 20 and at portions which are less than 180° apartin the most preferred form. Rollers 18 and 20 are rotated in oppositerotational directions to define an upper, mating side 32 and a lower,exit side 34. Similarly, rollers 20 and 21 are rotated in oppositerotational directions to define a lower, feed side 33 and an upper, exitside 35. To allow cleaning, rollers 18 and 21 may be movably mountedrelative to and loaded against roller 20 such as by pivotable mountingto allow separation of rollers 18 and 21 from roller 20.

Food 14 is filled into upper mating side 32, with a containment saddle36 being provided complementary to and for holding food 14 above andevenly feeding material to and within mating side 32. In the preferredform, saddle 36 includes end pieces 42 extending radially between andengaging the peripheries of rollers 18 and 20. In the most preferredform, end pieces 42 extend generally perpendicular to the rotationalaxes of rollers 18 and 20.

Food 14 in the most preferred form is extruded from an extruder 54 inthe form of a single extrudiate rope on a conveyor 56 in the mostpreferred form at a temperature in the order of 200° F. (93° C.). Whileon conveyor 56, food 14 passes through an air impingement cooling tunnel58 to cool the food to a temperature where food 14 is plastic but notflowable and in the most preferred form in the order of 160-170° F.(71-77° C.). After cooling tunnel 58 and prior to but closely adjacentthe end of conveyor 56, the extrudiate rope of food 14 is cut by arotating, helical reel type cutter 64 into small segments of a fewinches or centimeters in length. Due to the helical nature of the bladesof cutter 64, the segments of food 14 are pushed from a linear relationwith the extrudiate rope to prevent the ends of the segments of food 14from reattaching to reform a rope. After cutter 64, the segments of food14 are allowed to fall by gravity into saddle 36, with any segments offood 14 which adhere to conveyor 56 being scraped therefrom such as by ascraper 64. In the most preferred form, conveyor 56 is positioned aboveand parallel to the axes of rollers 18 and 20.

Support material 16 typically is supplied from a roll 44 and is threadedto extend over periphery 28 of roller 20 located within saddle 36 andmating side 32, and to extend between the nip of rollers 18 and 20 intoexit side 34.

A continuous ribbon of thin film material 66 is typically supplied froma roll 68 and is threaded to extend over lands 22 and grooves 24 of theperiphery of roller 18 located within saddle 36 and mating side 32, andto extend between the nip of rollers 18 and 20 into exit side 34. Filmmaterial 66 in the preferred form is a plastic material having a lowmemory and either having characteristics or suitably coated for ease ofremoval from food 14.

Food 14 is initially located in mating side 32 intermediate supportmaterial 16 and film material 66 supported by rollers 20 and 18,respectively. It can then be appreciated that as food 14 and material 16and 66 are pulled and simultaneously fed between the abutment nipbetween rollers 18 and 20 by the rotation of rollers 18 and 20, food 14and material 66 advancing between rollers 18 and 20 will be compressedinto grooves 24 such that food 14 will be deposited in the shapes of thepattern formed by grooves 24 upon support material 16, with the widthand height of the strings of food 14 generally corresponding to thewidth and depth of grooves 24. Depending upon several factors, food 14and material 66 may not be forced to entirely fill grooves 24 asdiagramatically shown in the drawings, with such a result clearly beingdesired at least for consistency in the amount of food 14 compressed onsupport 16. Rather, food 14 and material 66 may not be forced into thecorners of grooves 24 such that food 14 at locations spaced from support16 will have a more rounded configuration.

It can then be appreciated that if food 14 were fed into saddle 36 as anextrudiate rope, a tendency may exist for the rope to coil upon itselfas it falls into saddle 36 creating air spaces or gaps which may preventfood 14 from filling cavities 24. According to the preferred teachingsof the present invention, feeding food 14 in the form of segmentsprevents such coiling and the air spaces created thereby such thatconsistent filling of cavities 24 is obtained as the food segments tendto be self-distributing. Thus, less operator attention and monitoring isrequired for apparatus 10 according to the preferred teachings of thepresent invention.

It should also be appreciated that if food 14 is fed to mating side 32in a too-hot, flowable condition, food 14 may not be able to compressmaterial 66 completely into grooves 24 resulting in food 14 having awidth and depth substantially less than that of grooves 24. Similarly,if food 14 is fed to mating side 32 in a too-cold, waxy condition, food14 may not be pulled between the abutment nip between rollers 18 and 20to fill grooves 24 and thus also resulting in food 14 having a width anddepth substantially less than that of grooves 24. Likewise, if rollers18 and 21 are too hot, material 66 may have a tendency to rip as it iscompressed into grooves 24. Further, the nip pressure between rollers18, 20, and 21 is important to push food 14 into grooves 24 and overcomethe stretch resistance of material 66 of being compressed into grooves24 and to minimize or prevent flashing by food passing between theperipheries of rollers 18, 20, and 21 intermediate grooves 24 and beingevidenced by a thin film on support material 16 between the strings offood.

Apparatus 10 according to the preferred teachings of the presentinvention further includes an idler roller 70 having a smooth peripheryand an axial length generally equal to that of rollers 18, 20 and 21 andthe lateral width of the web support material 16. The diameter of roller70 is substantially less than and in the most preferred form one-fifththe diameter of rollers 18, 20 and 21. The axis of roller 70 is parallelto the axes of rollers 18, 20 and 21 and vertically offset below theaxis of roller 18 generally equal to the radius of roller 18. The axisof roller 70 is horizontally offset from the axis of roller 18 on theside opposite rollers 20 and 21 slightly larger than the radius ofroller 18, with at least the horizontal offset of roller 70 beingadjustable.

In exit side 34 after the abutment nip between rollers 18 and 20,support material 16 with food 14 and material 66 sandwiched againstroller 18 will extend around slightly greater than 90° of the peripheryof roller 18 to separate support material 16 from roller 20 and thenextend generally tangentially from roller 18. As support material 16separates from roller 18, material 66 will pull food 14 from grooves 24of roller 18. It can then be appreciated that material 66 must havesufficient strength to pull food 14 from grooves 24 without tearing orbreaking but have sufficient stretchability and flexibility to allowfood 14 to be compressed into grooves 24 in the abutment nip of a volumegenerally equal to that of grooves 24. Additionally, film material 66has a low resiliency or memory which does not tend to smash food 14undesirably deforming the shape of food 14 after leaving forming rollers18 and 21. Specifically, in the most preferred form, the ribbon of filmmaterial 66 has a low tensional strength and particularly in the mostpreferred form will stretch 110% due to the application of a force ofless than one pound (0.4536 kg) utilizing the tensional properties ofthin plastic sheeting test procedure of ASTM D882. If material 66 hadgreater tensional strength, less food 14 would be compressed in grooves24 and thus compressed on support material 16. In the most preferredform, film material 66 is formed of linear low density polyethylenehaving a thickness in the order of 0.0005 inches (0.0127 mm). Thickerfilms tend to have greater tensional strengths, but films thicker thanthe preferred form might work if possessing the relatively low tensionalstrength required according to the preferred teachings of the presentinvention. The diametric size and positioning of roller 70 as disclosedis also important in the ability of material 66 to remove food fromgrooves 24 of roller 18. It is also believed that the sudden pressuredifferential between above the nip abutment where food 14 is underpressure as it is compressed into grooves 24 and below the nip abutmentwhere food 14 is not under pressure as it passes the nip abutment tendsto pop or remove the food from grooves 24 of roller 18.

Food 14 and material 16 and 66 extends around over 180° of roller 70such that it is inverted and extends towards rollers 20 and 21, withmaterial 66 holding food 14 against the lower surface of material 16.Material 16 engages periphery 28 of roller 20 generally at a pointvertically below the axis of roller 20 and extends on periphery 28 forgenerally 90° into feed side 33 and passes between the abutment nipbetween rollers 20 and 21. When entering the abutment nip, material 66and food 14 enters grooves 24 of roller 21, with grooves 24 furthercompressing food 14 into the shape of the particular pattern. It wasfound that compressing food 14 between a single pair of rollers 18 and20 results in a thin film of food being present upon support material 16between lands 22 and periphery 28 and between the desired shape of food14 formed by grooves 24. Compressing food 14 between a second pair ofrollers 20 and 21 results in food 14 being in the desired shape of food14 formed by grooves 24 and generally without food being present uponsupport material 16 in the form of thin film or flashing between lands22 and periphery 28.

It can be appreciated that food 14 and material 16 and 66 should entermating side 33 of rollers 20 and 21 generally in phase with grooves 24of roller 21. It can then be appreciated that roller 70 can be moved toadjust the phase of food 14 and material 16 and 66 to match that ofgrooves 24 of roller 21, with adjustment being dependent upon severalfactors including the stretchability of material 16, the tension placedupon material 16 and like factors.

After the abutment nip between rollers 20 and 21, support material 16with food 14 and material 66 sandwiched against roller 21 extendsthrough exit side 35 and slightly greater than 270° of the periphery ofroller 21. Apparatus 10 in the most preferred form further includes apair of counter rotating rollers 74 and 75 having vertically spaced,parallel axes parallel to and spaced from the axes of rollers 18, 20, 21and 70. In the most preferred form, roller 75 is a steel rollerincluding a smooth periphery and roller 74 is a rubber coated steelroller including a plurality of lands which roll on material 66 and 16laterally intermediate the strings of food 14 on material 16, with thedepths of the grooves between the lands being at least equal to orgreater than the height of food 14 on support material 16. Supportmaterial 16 with food 14 and material 66 thereon extends from theperiphery of roller 21 horizontally below rollers 18, 20, 21 and 70 dueto the vertical offset of roller 21 below rollers 18 and 20 and betweenthe abutment nip of rollers 74 and 75 for pulling upon support material16. Material 66 extends generally tangentially from roller 74 to arotated take-up roll 76 at an acute angle in the order of 45° fromsupport material 16 and food 14 extending generally horizontally fromrollers 74 and 76. After material 66 has been removed, support material16 is cut into segments such as by one or more pairs of cutting rollers78 and 79 to longitudinal lengths and widths between the embossed shapesof food 14. In the most preferred form, support material 16 in additionto being cut to width is perforated at 80 to form flaps having a heightgenerally equal to food 14 which can be folded upward. After cutting tolongitudinal lengths by rollers 78 and 79, the individual food items aretransferred to a vacuum conveyor 72 for further processing. For example,after cutting and folding, the individual food item can be suitablypackaged in a wrapper 82 shown in phantom in FIG. 5 and placed incartons including the desired number of food items.

The food items fabricated with apparatus 10 according to the methods ofthe preferred teachings of the present invention generally includesupport 16 formed of a generally rigid material and specifically 12 or14 point cardboard of a size of 6.8 inch (17.3 cm) by 2.3 inch (5.8 cm)in the most preferred form. The continuous string of food 14 has firstand second, opposite, free ends having an elongated length between theends substantially greater than the length and width of support 16 andspecifically in the order of 54 inches (137 cm). Thus, food 14 has arange density of 3-4 linear inch per square inch (1.2-1.6 linearcentimeter per square centimeter) and in the most preferred form in theorder of 3.3 linear inch per square inch (1.3 linear centimeter persquare centimeter) of support 16. The continuous string of food 14 isremovably adhered to the planar upper surface of support 16 in aserpentine and non-intersecting manner. Thus, a consumer can graduallypeel the continuous string of food 14 from support 16 while the unpeeledportions remain adhered to support 16 to enhance the play value of thefood item. Furthermore, the arrangement of the continuous string of food14 on support 16 can be varied both in general appearance such asbetween an outwardly expanding spiral race track design asdiagrammatically shown in FIG. 1, an eyeglass design, or other designand/or in the manner that the particular design changes as thecontinuous string of food 14 is peeled from support 16 and thusincreasing the novelty of the food item.

The upper surface of support 16 should include a suitable coating suchthat food 14 adheres thereto during fabrication, packaging, storage, andother handling but can be generally readily removed therefrom whenpulled and without fracturing or otherwise breaking the continuousnature of the string of food 14. In the most preferred form, support 16includes an extrusion coated, nylon based release coating having a tackrelease factor characterized by a very low surface energy value. If thesurface energy value of support 16 is too high in the order of 30dynes/cm, the continuous string of food 14 can not be readily removedfrom support 16. On the other hand, if the surface energy value ofsupport 16 is too low in the order of 15 dynes/cm such as used for thesupport material in the FRUIT-BY-THE-FOOT™ fruit products, thecontinuous string of food 14 tends to come off all in one piece ratherthan in a manner allowing the continuous string of food to be graduallypeeled from support 16 according to the preferred teachings of thepresent invention. Thus, in the most preferred form, the surface energyvalue of the release coating should be in the range of 15 to 30dynes/cm, particularly in the order of 20-25 dynes/cm and in the mostpreferred form in the order of 23-25 dynes/cm. Additionally, thecoverage factor must be high and specifically the release coating shouldcover at least 90% and preferably greater than or equal to 95% and forbest results approximately 100% of the surface area of the upper surfaceof support 16. Food 14 tends to adhere to paper fibers forming support16 which are not coated by the release coating making removal of thoseportions difficult.

In the most preferred form, a gram of food 14 is formed into 3 to 10centimeters and in the most preferred form in the order of 6.5centimeters of length of string of food 14. If the weight versus lengthratio is too low, the string of food 14 will tend to tear as it ispulled from support 16 and if too high will tend to pull off as a singlepiece from support 16. It can then be appreciated that the weight versuslength ratio is related to the width of food 14 at support 16 and thethickness or height of food 14 in a direction generally perpendicular tosupport 16, with the width and height of food 14 in the string beinggenerally equal in the most preferred form and in the order of 3-4millimeters and in the most preferred form about 3.2 millimeters.

The use of three rollers 18, 20 and 21 to form the first and secondabutment nips according to the preferred teachings of the presentinvention is believed to be advantageous over forming the first andsecond abutments from first and second pairs of rollers. Specifically,the number of parts required in apparatus 10 is reduced thus reducingcapital and operating costs as well as reduction in the overall size ofapparatus 10. Further, lateral tracking, i.e. in a directionperpendicular to the movement of materials 16 and 66, is believed to beeasier to obtain when a single anvil roller 20 is utilized.

It is believed that fabrication of the food item according to thepreferred teachings of the present invention is advantageous over otherfabrication techniques such as injection molding including at least dueto continuous fabrication reasons resulting in reduced costs and greatercapacities.

Likewise, although it is believed that the arrangement of food 14 as acontinuous string in a serpentine and non-intersecting manner isadvantageous at least due to the novelty and play value of the product,food 14 can have other arrangements such as but not limited to acontinuous string in an intersecting manner or other shapes according tothe preferred teachings of the present invention.

Thus since the invention disclosed herein may be embodied in otherspecific forms without departing from the spirit or generalcharacteristics thereof, some of which forms have been indicated, theembodiments described herein are to be considered in all respectsillustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is to beindicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoingdescription, and all changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for rotary molding food comprising:placing a thin, deformable film tightly against the surface of a rollerhaving molding grooves; applying food onto said film against saidroller; applying pressure to said food, forcing said food to deform saidfilm and forcing said film and said food to conform to the shape of saidgrooves, whereby said film forms a barrier between said molding groovesand said food and whereby said food is molded in the shape of saidgrooves; removing said film and molded food from said grooves; andremoving said film from said molded food, wherein the step of applyingfood onto said film comprises the step of applying a fruit-basedmaterial onto said film.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said thin,deformable film is plastic.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein said thin,deformable film is polyethylene.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein saidthin, deformable film is released against said roller from a roll. 5.The method of claim 1 further comprising taking up said film on atake-up roll after said molded food is released.
 6. The method of claim1 further comprising conveying said food removed from said moldinggrooves on a conveyor.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein said conveyoroperates independently of the roller.
 8. The method of claim 1 whereinthe applying pressure step comprises the steps of: providing an anvilsurface; moving the roller relative to the anvil surface to form a firstabutment nip; and simultaneously feeding the food between the firstabutment nip with the film.
 9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:providing a continuous strip of support material against the anvilsurface; and wherein the simultaneously feeding step comprises the stepof simultaneously feeding the food between the film and the continuousstrip of support material.
 10. The method of claim 9 further comprisingthe step of rotating an anvil roller having a periphery, with the anvilsurface of the first abutment nip located at a portion of the peripheryof the anvil roller.
 11. The method of claim 10 further comprisingpassing the film and food compressed by the first abutment nip between asecond abutment nip including an anvil surface and a continuous formingsurface including at least a first groove.
 12. The method of claim 1further comprising the steps of: providing a continuous strip of supportmaterial; passing the continuous strip of support material between afirst abutment nip including an anvil surface and the roller movablerelative to the anvil surface, with the applying pressure stepcomprising the step of passing the film between the first abutment nip,with the continuous strip of support material located adjacent the anvilsurface and the film located adjacent the molding grooves of the roller;and wherein the applying food step comprises the step of simultaneouslyfeeding food between the film and the continuous strip of supportmaterial.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein the anvil surface of thesecond abutment nip is located at a different portion of the peripheryof the anvil roller.
 14. The method of claim 13 further comprising thestep of rotating a forming roller, with the continuous forming surfaceof the second abutment nip being located on the forming roller.
 15. Themethod of claim 11 further comprising the step of rotating a formingroller, with the continuous forming surface of the second abutment nipbeing located on the forming roller.
 16. The method of claim 8 whereinsaid thin, deformable film is released against said roller from a roll.17. The method of claim 8 further comprising taking up said film on atake-up roll after said molded food is released.
 18. The method of claim12 further comprising the step of rotating an anvil roller having aperiphery, with the anvil surface of the first abutment nip located at aportion of the periphery of the anvil roller.
 19. The method of claim 12further comprising taking up said film on a take-up roll after saidmolded food is released.